Success Tips From Abraham Lincoln

Success Tips From One Of America's Greatest Heroes

Abraham Lincoln was born into abject poverty 200 years ago. At any other time and place, this lowly origin would have dictated his future, but in Lincoln's case, his self-determination made it possible for him to secure his seat in his country’s history and almost single-handedly create the prototype of the self-made American.

Presidents' Day is as good a time as any to celebrate the values of one of our greatest leaders — President Lincoln, who has long held a special position in the American psyche. In his victory speech on November 4, 2008, President Barack Obama said: "We are and always will be the United States of America." With that one word — "united" — Obama invoked the full scope of Abraham Lincoln’s achievements and firmly established the direct relationship between the two men. Yet, precisely what is that relationship?

In short, Abraham Lincoln’s presidential achievements cleansed the Declaration of Independence of its glaring hypocrisy regarding equality and vindicated its revolutionary democratic principle: that the people have the power to elect as leader the citizen of their choosing, whomever that might be.

Although matching the specifics of Abraham Lincoln's career might not be a fair standard to set for oneself, we can still be informed by his general tenor and character. To that end, we offer the following professional success tips from Abraham Lincoln.

In communication, be brief and direct

Edward Everett was a renowned orator, and in 1863, at Gettysburg, he spoke for over two hours. His florid rhetorical style was typical of the era, and that speech is all but forgotten. Lincoln spoke for just three minutes during his Gettysburg Address; his style was lean and his message direct. With the exception of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is likely history’s most influential oration.

Presidential pointer: Long-windedness — in a presentation or an e-mail (who knew that success tips from Abraham Lincoln would extend into the digital era?) — signals pretentiousness and egotism. It ignores one’s audience and waters down your message. Honesty and brevity, meanwhile, combine to produce direct and high-impact communication while giving the impression of being forthright, efficient and selfless.

Don't succumb to intimidation

Prior to his assassination at Ford’s Theatre in 1865, Abraham Lincoln survived at least three direct attempts on his life and endured a constant stream of death threats, and he did it without the benefit of an organized Secret Service detail. If he was rattled by any of them, he didn’t let it show — not in his activities and not in his policies.

Presidential pointer: Both intimidation and bullying are methods of getting you to change your mind or your stance based on fear rather than principle. Giving in to intimidation subverts your ability to lead and negotiate while giving your opponents leverage to use against you. Whether you follow this rule as one of the success tips from Abraham Lincoln or one of the mafia tips from Al Capone, doing so will only leverage your credibility in the public's eye.

Keep your enemies close

One of the categories scholars use to rate presidents is their appointments (who they've picked to help carry out their policies). Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet appointments were not only shrewd, but almost a who’s who among 1860 presidential hopefuls. In fact, he installed no fewer than five of his former political opponents: Edwin Stanton, Simon Cameron, Salmon Chase, William Seward, and Edward Bates.

By way of comparison, the last four presidents prior to Obama appointed no more than one or two of their former rivals to their administration.

Presidential pointer: There are clear professional advantages to this success tip from Abraham Lincoln. When you keep your opponents close, not only can you keep tabs on them, but by presenting a united front — whether as a team, department or company — you also carry more clout, and you can still exploit their skills and benefit from their networks.